REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF
UNITED NATIONS ROMANIZATION SYSTEMS FOR GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Compiled by the UNGEGN Working Group on Romanization Systems
Version 2.2, January 2003

Hebrew

The United Nations recommended system was approved in 1977 (resolution III/13), based
on the official system (1957) proposed by the Academy for the Hebrew Language and used by
the Survey of Israel. The table was published as an annex to the resolution (Third
United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names. Athens, 17 August - 7 September
1977. Vol. I. Report of the Conference, pp. 29-30, 32-33.). The 1977 resolution was the
elaboration of an earlier resolution (II/9) adopted in 1972.

The system is used in Israel and in most international cartographic products. In recent years
there have been discussions in Israel on whether to modify the official romanization system but
no decision has yet been taken (An overview is given by N. Kadmon in Considerations for and
against the revision of a romanization system – the case of Hebrew. Seventh United Nations Conference on the
Standardization of Geographical Names. New York, 13-22 January 1998. Document E/CONF.91/L.11.).

Hebrew is written from right to left. The correct romanization of the Hebrew script presumes
the presence of fully pointed text, i.e. where all vowels are marked. These marks are usually
omitted in everyday writing though a method of denoting vowels with certain consonant
characters (ketív malé) is gaining ground also in the rendering of geographical names.
The romanization is not fully reversible, e.g. t denotes two different consonant characters
and vowels (e.g. o) can have more than one way of writing in the Hebrew script.

Romanization

In the romanization table below five consonants have a special final form which is shown
in addition to the main character after a comma. Superscript numbers refer to the notes at the end.

1

א

’, (-)2,9

2

בּ

b

3

ב

v

4

ג (גּ)4

g

5

ד (דּ)4

d

6

ה

h7

7

ו

w

8

ז

z

9

ח

ẖ

10

ט

t

11

י

y

12

כּ, ךּ

k

13

כ, ך ךְ

kh

14

ל

l

15

מ, ם

m

16

נ, ן

n

17

ס

s

18

ע

‘ 8,9

19

פּ

p

20

פ, ף

f

21

צ, ץ

ẕ

22

ק

q

23

ר

r

24

שׁ

sh

25

שׂ

s

26

ת (תּ)4

t

Vowels (א stands for any consonant character)

1

אַ

a

2

אֲ

a

3

אָ

a, o

4

אֶ

e

5

אֱ

e

6

אֵ

e, é5

7

אֵי

e

8

אְ

e6

9

אִ

i

10

אִי

i

11

אֳ

o

12

אֹ

o

13

וֹ

o

14

אֻ

u

15

וּ

u

Notes

1. The addition of a dot (dagesh ẖazaq) within a consonant, except as shown in the
list, doubles its value and is represented by doubling the respective letter (with the exception of
the digraph sh).

2. The sign ’ (alef) slightly separates two consecutive vowels or a consonant and
a vowel; at the beginning of a word it is omitted in transliteration.

3. Does not occur at the beginning of a name.

4. At the beginning of a name or of a syllable after sheva naẖ these letters carry a
dot (dagesh qal).

5. In some maps the ẕere (אֵ), if accentuated, is transliterated é.

6. The sheva (אְ) is of two kinds: sheva naẖ, which is omitted in
transliteration, and sheva na‘, which occurs at the beginning of a word or syllable.

7. Final h (ה), unless vocalized, is omitted in transliteration.

8. The sign ‘ (‘ayin) slightly separates two consecutive vowels or a consonant and
a vowel; it is also retained at the beginning and end of a word.

9. In practical application א (’) and ע (‘) are transliterated by the same symbol.